Load Commutated Inverter (LCI) Synchronous Motor Drives using a thyristor inverter bridge do not need forced commutation means, because automatic thyristor turn-off is achieved with a synchronous motor as the load, if it has a leading phase angle with respect to the load voltage. For a given load, increasing sufficiently the field will produce such leading power factor. See, for instance:
"The Synchronous Machine as a Self-Controlled Converter-Fed Motor" by Dieter Kollensperger in Siemens Review XXXV (1968) No. 5, pp. 195-201;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,743 of Dec. 15, 1987 (Alberto Abbondanti).
With an induction motor, however, this possibility no longer exists. The load power factor is lagging for all machine excitation levels. Therefore, specific circuitry must be used to allow a leading phase angle to take place, thereby providing natural commutation of the inverter bridge. To this effect, a general solution is to add a large capacitor bank in parallel with the motor, so that the lagging load power factor be overcompensated, the net result being that leading VAR's are supplied to the composite load. Accordingly, the resultant leading power factor angle will insure natural commutation of the inverter poles. In such case, the motor drive is referred to as a Load Commutated Inverter Induction Machine (LCI/IM) drive. Thus, when the power factor of the induction motor has been overcompensated to produce a leading load power factor to a current source, in principle the induction motor behaves much like a synchronous motor as far as current source inverter (CSI) is concerned, for a significant speed range. With LCI/IM drives, however, control difficulties arise if merely conventional current source inverter control schemes are used. In particular, stability problems are encountered. On the other hand, it is advantageous to be able to rely upon known CSI control methods such as used on forced-commutation motor drives, in order to regulate the DC-Link current magnitude and achieve a desired motor voltage in a LCI/IM drive.